Best Fish Guide: Arrow Squid

Alternative choice: No alternative

Description: These two species of squid are very short lived (1 year) and range from surface depths down to 500 metres in coastal waters around New Zealand. Arrow squid are mainly caught off the South Island and the Auckland Islands with most taken by mid-water trawling, with the rest caught by bottom trawling and jigging.

Ecological concerns: Trawl caught squid, where there is a high number of threatened NZ sea lions, NZ fur seals, seabirds and non-target fish killed as bycatch, plus damage done to the seabed and associated species by bottom trawling. The Auckland Islands squid trawl fishery is of particular concern, killing thousands of seabirds and over 131 NZ sea lions per year from the main breeding colony, which is in serious decline and predicted to be functional extinct by 2035.. The state of stocks, absence of research and lack of a management plan are also concerns. In addition, two species are managed as one and there is an absence of basic biological information on squid and no research programme focussed on squid.

Economic value: Most arrow squid are exported frozen to Greece (17%), Spain (15%) and Australia (12%). Exports vary considerably between years and were worth about $104 million in 2010-11, which was well below 2004 exports ($172m).